Singapore Navy Vessel Hit by Vessel

A Singapore anti-submarine ship and a merchant vessel collided off Malaysia's southern coast late Friday, injuring eight people and trapping four others in the warship, Singapore's government said.

Efforts were ongoing to free the four, all women who were sleeping at the time of the collision, said Valerie Yeo, a Ministry of Defense spokeswoman.

"The sleeping quarters are located in the aft of the ship where the most severe damage was sustained," she said.

Eight people from the ship suffered minor injuries, and three of them were taken to Changi General Hospital for observation, the ministry said.

The accident between the RSS Courageous and the ANL Indonesia, a freighter heading for South Korea, occurred minutes before midnight off Pedra Branca, an islet claimed by both Singapore and Malaysia, the ministry said. Pedra Branca lies off peninsular Malaysia's southern coast, strategically situated at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait.

A source told The Associated Press that the warship was hit on its side and that one of the four trapped was unconscious.

The ministry did not say whether the ship was in danger of sinking or whether it was in Singapore territorial waters.

The 500-ton RSS Courageous, commissioned in 1996, is one of six sub hunters in the Singapore navy fleet.